Zunibal is always by its customers’ side to help on a daily basis.

Interview with Aitor Aizpurua, Director of CTO at Zunibal, for Industrias Pesqueras Magazine

In its efforts to ensure customers receive the highest quality service and help promote sustainable fishing, Zunibal is upgrade its buoys’ satellite communication network through the implementation of innovative technology that will be free of charge for all its customers.

What improvements will customers see with this change?

Zunibal has always opted to integrate a dedicated communication system into its tuna fishing solution, which is synonymous with service, quality, and security. Now, this solution has been further improved, establishing a complete level of service availability, data quality, and capacity to include new services.

Every second at sea counts, and every correct decision can make a difference. The lack of smooth data access directly affects the ability to take action quickly and reduces certainty in decision-making.

Our new solution directly addresses this risk. No matter where they are, our customers can not only rest assured that they will benefit from a powerful and reliable connection, but also unprecedented speeds and bandwidth for data transmission in SATCOM IoT, thus generating the highest quality information in real-time.

How is Zunibal different from other suppliers in the industry?

In the field of technology for the tuna fishing sector, innovation is a constant. What sets Zunibal apart is not only our ability to continuously innovate, but also our unwavering commitment to providing solutions that meet our customer needs.

Communication systems in and of themselves do not provide any particular competitive advantage. However, thanks to its profound knowledge of such technology, Zunibal is able to transform this apparent commodity into an opportunity to provide excellent services. We are one of the first companies in the world to have implemented Iridium Certus’ advanced technology.

But what does this mean for our customers? It means they will now be able to benefit from higher levels of connectivity and reliability, key differentiators in the dynamic marine environment. The qualitative leap in connectivity will allow them to make informed decisions quickly, providing them with a crucial advantage in daily operations. This is how we improve our customers’ experience.

How much will customers have to pay to implement this new technology?

Zunibal not only seeks to innovate on a constant basis, but is also committed to bringing real change to our customers’ lives by putting them at the centre of everything we do. This dedication has led us to make significant investments in research and development, focusing on the development of cutting-edge communication solutions.

But we won’t stop there. We understand that in order for our customers to truly benefit from our technology, it must be at their disposal. For this reason, Zunibal will bear all the costs related to implementing this new technology, from hardware to installation.

Although we cannot provide an exact total figure for this investment, what we can say with certainty is that Zunibal is fully committed to providing the best solution, bearing the necessary costs that will give our customers an unparalleled experience. Our customers will be able to focus on what they do best, knowing full well that they have our technology and unconditional support.

How does Zunibal ensure the reliability of its maritime communication system?

Reliability is not a choice, but a guarantee. A clear indicator of our commitment is the fact that our technology has been through constants and rigorous testing, including being awarded iridium certification. Indeed, we are one of only a handful of companies worldwide that have so far gained this certification. These tests ensure that the system can cope with the most challenging conditions that the ocean may bring.

In addition to ensure faultless data management, we have chosen to collaborate with technology giant Amazon Network Services (AWS). We use the SQS protocol for message routing, which means that each communication is processed with maximum accuracy and efficiency.

What is Zunibal’s vision for the future?

With the integration of our new buoy-satellite communication solution, we are taking an important step towards the future. This innovation will not only strengthen communication within our solution, but as mentioned earlier, it will soon enable us to provide customers with a broader range of services, such as improved maps, more efficient support, and a general improvement in all of the tools on board. Our vision is clear: promote sustainable tuna fishing in the best way we know: by ensuring that our customers are equipped with the best available technology for their day-to-day operations.